It is my favourite trick. At least I think it is. I do a trick of that name anyway. However I didn't realise it had anything to do with Ken Brooke. Do you use two little paddle sticks one of which has a spot on one side and blank the other and the other with one spot on one side and two on the other?

I think it is an item of Max Andrews. It is a wonderful trick and I know of none better.

If memory serves, the spotted paddle trick was "Dotty Spots" and the Ken Brooke item with the black dominoes was "Spotty Dots", although I also seem to remember that the title in the catalogue advert was not the same as the title in the instructions - one said "Spotty Dots" and the other said "Dotty Spots" (obviously a plot to confuse us).

Ah! It seems that the "Dotty Spots" I do is not the same as the "Spotty Dots" a la Ken Brooke.

However I still stand by my original statement. This trick is one of the greatest little tricks there is and gets a terrific reaction from laymen even though it is sometimes thought of as just a novelty for beginners. The price is right too. Around $5 from your local magic shop.

Mr. Henry,I did some checking and the trick with the little white paddles was called "Spot the Spots". It appears under that name in an old Max Andrews catalogue I happen to have (1956), though it's not inconceivable that some other dealer may have called it "Dotty Spots". As to the reaction it gets, I do remember it going over really well when I did it with a very basic presentation as a kid.

Yes indeed. I actually have an old packet and lo and behold the title on the envelope is indeed "Spot the Spots" However for some reason it passed into the vernacular as "Dotty Spots" when in conversation with magicians of my youth.

It really is a superb item for laymen and nearly every day of my life for the last 45 years or so I have carried it in my left trouser pocket for impromptu use.

I would even say that it has garnered me more bookings that any other trick.

I remember doing it to laymen in the presence of a very excellent sleight of hand magician who was astonished at the reaction I garnered from it. He told me afterwards "and I thought it was just a novelty item for beginners and never thought much of it until now"

To me it is the best paddle trick of all even surpassing the colour changing knives. Again $5 from your local magic or joke shop.

Actually I knew a guy who ultimately became a millionaire from this one trick. He wasn't a magician-he just sold the item to the public at large. He made them out of balsa wood and had an interesting presentation based on the old nursery rhyme of "two little dicky birds sitting on a wall-one name Peter and one named Paul"

His name was Manny Rosenberg and this little trick started his business empire off where he eventually sold other non magic products and became very wealthy indeed.

Here's a clip of Terry Herbert performing a different paddle trick, sold by Ken Brooke. As a teenager Terry Herbert learnt from legendary magic dealer Ken Brooke a great close-up trick by R.M. Jamison, the Spot Sticks. At the time Terry was so influenced by Ken's presentation, he still performs it in Ken's style.

Terry is a brilliant children's entertainer and I even remember him doing the cups and balls (of all things) on British television about a thousand years ago or so. His spot routine is a very good one but I wish he would dump that awful Yorkshire accent!